Drowning in the Consequences
by Valerian Arvellan
Summary: Herald Ahalya and the consequences of one little indiscretion that will affect the course of her life.
1. Chapter 1

Opening Words

This is a rework of my previous Valdemar fanfiction attempt. It will have differences and some similarities and I am of the opinion it will be far superior. Not that it is particularly difficult for that. By rework which is a rather loose way to describe this because of the differences in it I will not be a frequent updater due to the demands of my second last year of schooling. I will do my best to update often enough and finish this story. I would appreciate feedback, but I won't be the type to hold back chapters just to spite anyone that reads it but doesn't review. This is written more to feed my love of the Valdemar series, than for anyone else so if things go too smoothly...that means I'm in a happy ending mood.

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><p>Diplomacy. It was a testament to the amount of luck that had been with the young Herald that diplomacy had not failed. A junior Herald, one so new to her whites had been given the task of negotiating with Hardorn, she had succeeded. Ahalya was thankful to make it back to Valdemar, alive. Vansyr was dozing as despite the stiffness of her body brushed him, combed his mane and tail with care. Fondly she stroked his sleek muscled neck, admiring the elegance of her Companion. Lazily he opened his eyes and spoke.<em> .:: Dearest, go and soothe you aching muscles in a hot bath. You deserve it, darling.::.<em>

Ahalya felt a rush of gratitude towards Vansyr, now her aches and pains had became even more noticeable and the thought of hot water pushing them away, and being clean after days of hard riding- blissful. She let out a low moan as she stretched out, wincing as she placed the brushes down._ .::Thank you, I will make it up to you. I promise. ::._ She replied to her other half, her dearest Companion who simply nodded.

Half-asleep she stumbled out from the stall, she let instinct guide her in where to walk- it wouldn't surprise her if she found herself at the wrong end, but she found she could not let that bother her, she was just ready to sleep. Firstly. Yes, she had to bathe, get rid of the dust of the road and the stale sweat that was ingrained into her skin and clothes.

She had already began to strip by the time her bath had been ready for her to enter. As soon as she slipped beneath the water, she let out a sigh of pleasure. This was wonderful.

Spluttering. Coughing. Aware that strong arms had gripped her shoulders and pulled her out of the watery depths of her bath was her first thoughts, then she realised that she had fallen asleep. Dragging air into her lungs greedily she realised that she could have drowned- she could now hear the anguish of Vansyr, he had tried and failed to waken her. With the aid of her saviour she found herself standing shakily.

A towel was wrapped around her and it was then she focused in on the woman who had saved her. Acute embarrassment spread when she saw that her saviour had been a man. A handsome face was full of concern, his hair tousled as if he had jumped from his bed- this was confirmed when she noted his chest was bare.

"Your Companion reached through to me, my rooms are the nearest and I have strong Mindspeech. Are you feeling okay? That was a close call." His voice was warm, full of the same concern written on his face but Ahalya was struggling to answer. This man had saw her naked, his rough calloused hands had touched her and she was standing before him with only a towel hiding her dripping wet form from him- if only the ground would swallow her up now.

"My exhaustion got the better of me. My Companion and I were on the roads for days. Thank you, Herald..." Ahalya responded hoping she would get the chance to dress soon, it was uncomfortable being under his gaze when he didn't seem to even notice that she was naked underneath the towel.

"Caelum, at your service." He answered. "Now, what is the name that I may at last know?"

Ahalya knew the name felt strangely familiar but from where she didn't know. "My name is Ahalya. Thanks, you saved my life and my name from eternal embarrassment. " Although she didn't feel even vaguely humourous she still added that one part of self-depreciating humour into her sentence. "Although if someone enters we might be in a awkward situation."

He caught her hint and chuckled. "There could be far worse things to happen, for me anyway. Being in the room with a beautiful woman in a towel is certainly not a bad thing in my opinion. I will leave you but I insist that you join me tomorrow for drinks at the Blue-Swillet Tavern." His gray-green eyes were warm as he spoke to her, beginning already to sidle out of the bathing rooms.

"Okay. "

He left and for a few minutes she stood with a towel wrapped around her with a half-smile on her face, it seems nearly drowning had benefited her. Thankful that although she had been in Hardorn and securing their help for the very likely war that another Herald had already returned with the full details of their alliance-she didn't need to report immediately.

Ahalya had remained for a further week, the King was always eager to see one of his many family members. The great-niece of the Hardornen King, Ahalya was the daughter of his favoured niece who had eloped with a Valdemaran Guardsman. Great-uncle Karauthon had of course listened to his love-struck niece and gave his blessing- nothing had became of it. She guessed that it had also helped that her father had been Valdemaran nobility.

Thankfully it had never been a huge scandal, few people actually knew of it. Clearly, some in the Heraldic Circle had known and had chosen her specifically for the negotiations, despite her feeling of success she knew it had been practically guaranteed that Hardorn would aid Valdemar if it was Ahalya representing them. She was one of the many Princesses of the Country, she had renounced any claim upon becoming a Herald but that was only in Valdemar. Her Great-uncle would never recognise the fact that the only title she would hold was Herald.

_.:: Dearest, you are standing,dripping wet and in only a towel. ::._ Vansyr interjected, interrupting her thoughts and Ahalya realised he was right. .:: You also neglected to bring clean clothes to change into, no worries. Jisah told her Chosen and he is walking up right now with a tunic and leggings set. Such a thoughtful mare she is. ::. He commentated and Ahalya giggled at the admiration in his voice.

_.:: Someone has an infatuation. ::._ The auburn haired young woman teased her Companion lightly. She ensured the towel was covering her as she saw the dark haired Herald Caelum enter with the clothes draped over his arms. He had pulled on a tunic and his hair looked less tousled.

"The clothes as promised," he grinned as he handed them to her and vacated the bathing room promptly. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ahalya." He shouted over his shoulder.

Ahalya dressed quickly and realised that the clothes swamped her far smaller form, Herald Caelum was a tall and broad-shouldered man, Ahalya was small and petite. The tunic hung off her shoulder at one side, she also looked vaguely like a child swamped in the too large clothes. Watching the water drain out she gathered up her dirty clothing and left, hurrying to her rooms.

Her rooms weren't empty. Kestren looking markedly older since she had last seen him was seated in her small sitting room, his legs propped up on a low wooden table that had been a gift from the same man. The older Herald looked up at her with a kind smile and swiftly removed his feet from the table. "It is good to see you, dear." He told her warmly, she could see in his face that the sentiment was genuine, not that she had doubted it.

"Glad to see you too, Kestren. I've missed you." She informed the older man as she leaned forwards and kissed his cheek. "Great-aunt Nitta spent most of the week in Hardorn trying to set me up with young noblemen, she doesn't seem to understand that I'm a Herald." Ahalya shook her head as she stopped at her room and dumped her pile of clothes on the floor- she would deal with them later. " I almost drowned myself falling asleep in the bath. Vansyr came to me rescue by alerting the nearest Herald."

The King's Own Herald shook his head. "Thank the Havens that he was awake." He replied, frowning momentarily. "Take more care, Ahalya. Well done on your success in Hardorn."

Ahalya rolled her eyes. "It was guaranteed as soon as I was assigned. Great-uncle favours mother and I." She informed him. You knew that when it was decided I would be the Herald leading the foray into Hardorn."

Kestren sighed, a brief flash of guilt appeared on his face. Ahalya had been used for precisely that reason, not that she lacked the ability to have not been successful without her blood ties to the King, it had simply been guaranteed because of her ties to the King. He did not deign to answer her slightly accusing words. He stood from where he was seated, glanced at her and noticing the tiredness in her eyes. "I will let you get to bed, sleep well." He murmured as he strode out of her rooms.


	2. Chapter 2

Opening Words

Yeah, I had a blast ploughing into writing more for this fanfiction. The lyrics are mine, so no infringing any copyrights by using them in a fanfiction. The Inn is mine, but the story setting isn't. Mercedes Lackey is the author who's world I am using to write in. I'm clearly not a songwriter, as my attempt will show you. I will admit that some things in this are entirely misdirection purposely put in on my part, others are not. Basically, I'm leaving you to perhaps drive yourself crazy with thinking' is it, or is it not?'.Also I've been very naughty, I've had most this chapter written a few days after I posted the story. I just never got around to finishing it.

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><p>The Blue-Swillet was a quiet enough place in a better part of Haven. Having never been to it, she had known it would had been Caelum who had to led her to the had spoken, mostly about various mishaps they had experienced. He was quick to laugh and had a keen sense of humour that Ahalya enjoyed. They had walked on foot, leaving their Companions to their own devices. She had worn one of her nicer dresses, dark blue and embroidered for the occasion- Caelum was a handsome man. It was a rare occasion that allowed her to dress nicely and she was pleased to take the opportunity to do so.<p>

They were seated beside each other in an alcove away from the other patrons, a server had left a tray of drinks that despite her protests had been paid for by Caelum. Not that she would ever admit aloud but she could think it- her companion had a musk blend scent, it was pleasant. Sipping her drink when their conversation had taken a pause, she settled for studying him. Rather than the perfection she had half-expected to find Caelum had clearly broken his nose before, although it did appear to have been treated well enough that it was nearly unnoticeable; curving from under his earlobe and down to his chin was a faded scar. Yet, it didn't seem to detract from how attractive she admitted she found him, it only increased her attraction.

"Your eyes are unusual, such a shade of silver- I've only ever seen them in portraits of some of my ancestors," Caelum noted, his curiousity evident. Silver eyes were a rarity but not unheard of, the Ashkevron were known to often have more than a few members with the eyes.

"The story goes that my many times great-grandmother was the illegitimate daughter of Herald-Mage Vanyel, she was raised by two Shaych retired female Guards who were friendly with him. But what amuses me is that Lord Vanyel preferred men himself. It was a wonderful story when I was a child. I used to pretend to be his Companion, "Ahalya answered smiling, "it runs in both sides of my family, the eyes that is." The auburn haired Herald took another sip of her drunk as she shifted in her seat.

"Nice story. I used to play Herald Lavan Firestorm, my brother used to be Tavir in our games, " Caelum regailed her with a smile, "father would take us riding on his Companion when he had time, it was the best thing ever. Until Jisah chose me." His smile brightened as he mentioned his Companion.

_Twas a lady of fair-breeding_

_russet hair, milk white skin_

_I went to her, lovesick, pleading_

_to wed me here, wed me now_

_Her eyes stormy, just like flints_

_she turned me down, left me there_

_shouting, I followed the bintz_

_for now it was clear, she was a witch_

The minstrel was of middling talent, his lyrics were bad but he had a good voice and talented fingers with the lute. Ahalya had smiled at his small ditty, it seemed he had been turned down somewhere in the recent past. It was good for the woman mentioned that he was not a Bard, otherwise it would have been a more inventive and known one. Bards were known to when scorned to take revenge in the form of songs.

Ahalya made a note to leave some money for the minstrel for his songs before he left, or she and Caelum left. Whatever came first; around Haven a minstrel wasn't bound to make good coin, only out of Valdemar were they able to, only if a Bard was not around. Sometimes when she was still living with her parents at their estate a Bard would room for a few weeks and everyone would come to hear him or her play. She had been about thirteen then, she still remembered trying to flirt with the handsome young journeyman , who had taken it all in good humour.

With a pleasant shiver running down her spine she noticed that Caelum had moved closer to her, his hand resting lightly on her thigh, his other hand with his drink in hand, the hand on her thigh was tracing circles around. She said nothing, simply enjoying the close contact, aware of her physical attraction to her fellow Herald and awareness of how deep the attraction went.

He turned and their eyes met, silver against a gray-green and she felt satisfaction knowning that the attraction was mutual. It had been a long time since her first venture into the realm of sexual intercourse, the last attempt had been foiled when Vansyr had interrupted her tryst. It was not nearly as unexpected as she would have thought that he leaned forwards and kissed her, Ahalya responded eagerly.

Caelum broke away from their kiss first despite being the one instigating it, breathless he took a moment before he asked her, "If I asked you to stay with me tonight, what would you say?"

Ahalya did not even hesitate before answering. "Yes, I would say exactly that." Anticipation rose, a strange but pleasant feeling in her lower abdomen as they rose from their table. A Herald knew life was too short to waste time with waiting, even if this was a one off she knew it was worth it. Most Heralds frequently had trysts, most without any complications and some with more meaning. It was easy to trust a fellow Herald, they were bonded in a way no other could fully understand.

"I had hoped you would say that," he carelessly flung coins down as a tip as he practically leapt forwards, Caelum was stealing glances at her as they left the Blue Swillet intent on getting to his rooms as quickly as possible.

They barely noticed what was going on in town as they took shortcuts through some side-streets, in their haste they almost ignored a cry for help. Heraldic instincts however even when slightly inebriated and with other things on their mind dictated the two stop and investigate.

Ahalya reached out with her Mindspeech, trying to graze the surface of thoughts and find whoever was in need. Ethics played a part but in this case she felt her use of her gift was justified as she simply sought to lend aid to someone in trouble. She realised that Caelum was also doing the same,

Shadows haunted each of their steps, Ahalya wishing she was armed, for she had foolishly came out without even a simple knife to defend herself. Her gifts could be used, yet, they were hardly the best thing to use when confronted with a knife or something along that line. It seemed as if hours had passed as they finally began to enter yet another side-street but it had been mere minutes.

Caelum saw it first. A young boy of perhaps twelve was pinned against a wall, two fully grown men using their weight against the lad. Ahalya felt anger rise, she had never felt so angry- never in all her life. She moved to charge forwards but was held back by Caelum, of course, she wasn't armed. As it were, luck was with them because as soon as the men saw their approach they threw the boy to the side as they scurried off into the darkness. Ahalya called out for the boy to stop, but he nimbly climbed up the small wall, dangling briefly before he pulled himself out of sight.

"Leave him, we would only make him run faster and possible lose his footing, " Caelum said with a sigh as he released Ahalya from his grasp. He hadn't held her roughly, but physically he was stronger than her and it had been no strain to him at all. "I'm quite sure he'll be fine, this worked out for the best. Neither of us were in a good position to fight off his attackers."

Ahalya nodded reluctantly. The Herald knew that the dark haired man was completely correct but she just wished she had been able to do something more for the boy. She didn't doubt that Caelum felt any differently. It was in their nature to want to help others. His musky scent tickled her nose as she breathed it in, the attraction she had felt so deeply rekindling. Her mind had turned to the plight of the boy and she had neglected to remember why they were hurrying back to his rooms.

It disgusted her that she still felt the longing to lose herself in his embrace and lose herself with wild abandon under his ministrations when that boy had been threatened before her only minutes before. But she remembered how she felt when his hands skillfully caressed her thigh during their drinks. It had lit her with a flame that had yet to be quenched. The kiss had been everything she could have imagined when he began gently and then it became more heated. Him pulling away had been the end of it, she had been losing herself in it.

"I shouldn't presume but despite this interruptance I don't find myself deterred from our plans. If I hadn't stopped our kiss before, we'd have been kicked out for indecency." His gray-green eyes met hers as he spoke, his hand covering her smaller one. All she could feel was a decadent tingling warmth.

All she could do was nod in agreement.

Ahalya could barely recall the journey back. All she remembered was the nerves but delightful anticipation when they had finally made their way into his rooms. Caelum had already shed his shirt by the time she had pushed his door shut.

Having awoken late the next afternoon she had felt none of the discomfort she had believed she would have expected. Only strong arms holding her against his chest. Ahalya had attempted to slip out, but his grasp on her was strong and so she was comfortable where she was. Her eyes were kept closed and she focused on his chest rising and falling as he snored lightly, barely noticeable.

There was a girlish delight that she had finally shed her maidenhead, not literally. She had long ago lost the thin membrane through riding and physical activity. The act she had taken part in with Caelum had initially given her discomfort but she remembered with heated cheeks how that had changed. Some noblewoman saved themselves for their husbands, that had not been the case with her. It had just never happened. But now she felt a bit more wordly, although she suspected she was just being silly.

She giggled when Caelum announced his awakening with peppering kisses on her neck. "Good afternoon." She greeted the dark haired man as she wriggled out of his grasp but remained on the bed with a sheet covering her form.

He was still rather sleepy as he flashed a smile that she suspected had most women in a tizzy. His eyes moved over her body as he remembered the night before. "Definitely. " He responded in a relaxed tone. His head was tipped towards her and he met her eyes. "We could stay in bed for a while longer." Caelum suggested with his hand reaching out to pull her towards him.

_.:: You most certainly will not ::._ Vansyr's mind-voice echoed in both of their minds, although Ahalya hadn't realised that until she noticed how Caelum had tensed at the unfamiliar intrusion. A Companion rarely spoke to anyone but their Chosen. Why was Vansyr doing this? If he had objected to Ahalya sharing a night with Caelum he would have made it clear the previous night. He had to have known what she was doing from their bond.

Irritated she answered back rather sharply._ .:: Why shouldn't I? This isn't your business. You never see me interrupting you when you get frisky! ::._

_.:: Because, you aren't protected against pregnancy right now. You ran out of the herb and haven't dosed yourself with it in a week ::._ The Companion stated it matter of factly as both Ahalya and Caelum felt comprehension dawning.

It was unlikely, very unlikely but Ahalya knew very well that sometimes it could only take once. If she hadn't been so horrified at the thought she would have blushed that it had been more than once last night. She could very well be pregnant! "He is right. I didn't think. Before last night I'd never slept with a man and I didn't expect anything to occur. What am I going to do?"

There was silence as she slipped off the bed and dressed and sat on the edge of his bed. Caelum had also taken the opportunity to pull on a set of informal whites and with his eyes flicking from Ahalya to the wall. Deep in conversation with his Companion. "We. I seem to recall fully participating last night. I can't say I'm thrilled that the prospect puts a dampener on what was a wonderful night, but I cannot deny that part of me finds the idea thrilling."

"At least one of us does." Ahalya muttered.

"I suppose that I wouldn't be the one carrying it," the black haired Herald conceded, "but I like you, Ahalya. I am not just saying this because there is a possibility you are pregnant. This wasn't just a one night fling, not for me. I'm not proposing marriage. Not unless we are compatible, which I think we could be. There is something about you."

Ahalya raised an eyebrow, it was all she could do not to burst into tears. It wasn't that she hated the thought of being pregnant, not at all. She did like kids, she liked them a lot. She just didn't want to be pregnant now. Caelum was a man she liked very much, his company last night had been wonderful but she barely knew him and now she would for the next month waiting to see if this had resulted in a baby.

They were jumping to conclusions, but she had learnt that Caelum was an Ashkevron, and all of Valdemar knew how fertile they were. They were the largest noble family for a reason. While Valdemar had little condemnation on a child born out of wedlock. Hardorn was another matter. She put a hand to her flat abdomen and wondered if in a few months time if it would no longer be flat. "Even so, I hope that is not the case. Because if it is, you might never be able to step foot into Hardorn. My Great Uncle would probably hire people to kill you." She joked half-heartedly.

"Who would he be to do that?" Caelum enquired not particularly serious.

"The King."

The Ashkevron paled. He looked at the petite Herald and searched for any signs of jesting, there wasn't. Realisation that he may or may not have impregnanted a close relation to the King of Hardorn outside of marriage had hit him. Any positive thoughts were slowly fleeing him. "Oh."


End file.
